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I was starting to feel glum about recent events taking place in my life. Instead of lashing out at God, which is my former way of doing things, I decided to write an open letter to Satan instead so that I could remind myself and others of God’s promises to His people. Am I still sad? Yes. But I also know that this is temporary in light of eternity…and eternity is an awfully long time. (Feel free to leave comments, if you’d like. Oh, and don’t steal this without permission because that would be mean and very Satan-like.)

An Open Letter to Satan

Satan,

I am writing you this letter to inform you that your rebellion against God and His people isn’t going so well. Granted, it looks like you’re winning, and I admit there are casualties in our camp. However, God is guaranteed the final victory, and until then, I suppose you’re going to keep on causing misery and pain in your kingdom here on earth.

Therefore, if you must continue on with this rampage against God’s image bearers, I’d like to give you a few insights on how this all works.

First, you can maim, torture, denounce, martyr, and rip apart our earthly bodies, but you can never touch our souls, though they may experience the darkest of nights. Even when God seems so far away that we ache and we doubt, our allegiance will never be swayed, for our King will come through in the end. When we are at our weakest, God is at His very strongest. If you want to test us, go ahead, because we will only be made stronger.

Second, though I am forced to live in your kingdom temporarily, I won’t be here forever. My loyalty is to a King with a heavenly kingdom that will not pass away. The more I learn about my kingdom of eternal residence, the less satisfied I am with earth. Oh, there are beautiful sunsets, soaring hawks, and wonders that take my breath away, but these things only prove that there is a Creator. My soul was made for eternity, and I can’t wait to see creation in its glorified, original state. See, spring is coming here on earth, and you can’t stop it or the fact that it reminds us of the eternal Spring that will one day come and make everything new.

Third, the Bible says that you masquerade as an angel of light, that you were once the most beautiful in all of creation. Of course, you rebelled against God, took one-third of the angels with you, and now you’re here on earth. Then Eve (formerly known as “woman”) came, the signature of divine, and you deceived her. Tragically, the earth and all that is in it because cursed. I don’t need to tell you the story. After all, you were there.

I suppose that some are still deceived by your “beauty,” but I only see you as ugly, twisted, and disgusting. While some horrible events are the result of living in a fallen world (aka your temporary kingdom), others are the result of the work of you and your counterparts—wars, broken families, corruption, violence, murder, divorce, abuse, and so on. When lives are devastated, some question God and doubt His existence, but real Christians turn to God with our heartache. (For reference, see above paragraph on “when we are weak, God is strong.”)

While you do hurt us, injure us, ruin our days, and even destroy lives, you cannot fool us into thinking that you are beautiful, lovely, or “light.” You gave that all up when you wanted to be God, when you fell from beauty. I almost pity you. Almost. But you made your choice, took humanity down with you, and caused so much suffering, death, and destruction, I cannot pity you. Once you were breathtakingly gorgeous, and now you’re this—an ugly, imitation of what you were created to be. We are not fooled.

Fourth, I am personally affronted by all the pain and heartache you’ve caused in my life…and the pain and heartache I’ve caused others. To the end of my days, I will never stop giving God the glory, which I know also means doing battle with you and your demons. While I am not thrilled about the prospect of dealing with you and your kind, the Bible assures me that I am fully equipped for this war. I know I’m not as intelligent as you, so no doubt you will trip me up. I may even be a P.O.W. in your camp from time to time. Know this, Satan, my God will always come for me. He will never leave me or forsake me.

In summation, you may be winning a few battles here and there. You may even claim victory from time to time. Know this, you will lose the war. God’s people will always rise up, be made strong in our weakness, and be defended by a Warrior, who rejoices over us with singing. We will sing, dance, and praise God in our suffering; we will take this heartache and turn it into thankfulness, and these ashes will be traded for crowns of beauty. In the end, it’s not about what we will do, but what God has already done.

This can be a good approach when we need catharsis. I think Satan is there as an Everlast punching bag in “God’s Gym”, he’s there to provide us resistance and make us stronger. His presence accomplishes something in us that could be accomplished in no other way. He is the figurehead at the heart of rebellion and is there to provide us the opportunity to dissent by turning in obedience to our Lord Jesus.

Sweetie, it’s not about winning or losing, its about standing up for what you believe in. It’s about taking a stand against injustices, even when you’re destined to fail. You’re entitled to your own opinion, of course, but I’m sorry you can’t see past all the biased things you’ve been told. History is written by the victors, after all. I’m sorry you find it necessary to blame a scapegoat for the terrors we inflict upon ourselves. And I’m sorry you see our fall as such a tragedy, when I consider it such a blessing.
Regardless, I wish you luck on your path.

I know Satan is so annoying – I remember last December I wanted to send my cancer to Satan in a black box marked here you can have this back – I don’t want it. But the fact that we live in a fallen world is very apparent and that our struggles will be God’s strength and the final victory will be the Lord’s. Until then with God’s help and our faith we will be the agents of change and the hope and light to those who are in darkness and pain.

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About Amy

Amy Sondova is a writer specializing in media writing, including interviews and reviews, as well as blogging. Having interviewed over a gazillion of the top musicians, writers, and speakers in the Christian media, Amy has also written countless columns, reviews, and articles on various topics including mental illness, self-injury, working with teenagers, and Christianity. Amy currently writes youth Bible studies, for her blog, SheIsBeloved.com, runs Share Beauty Project (ShareBeautyProject.com), and is currently working on her first book. She lives with BFF Sarah and has a Shih Tzu named Maddy, a cockatiel named Arrow, King Karl the Snail, and a fish tank known as The Bachelor Pad. She just might be Captain America's fiance.